(ATR) The media in the United States and France are working to decipher the IOC 2024 Evaluation Commission reports on Los Angeles and Paris.
The reports, released online on July 5, are the first of the Olympic Agenda 2020 era. Both cities received very favorable reviews though weaknesses, labeled as "challenges", were also mentioned.
Information in the reports could well sway members of the IOC when they meet next week in Lausanne for an Extraordinary Session to debate and vote on a plan to jointly award the 2024 and 2028 Olympics.
Both bids have expressed an acceptance for a dual award from the IOC, while Paris is the only bid to signal it would be opposed to hosting the 2028 Olympics.
One piece of information in the reports that media on both sides of the Atlantic have concentrated on is the results of a new, independent IOC poll showing Paris had 63 percent support for the Olympic Games. That number is down from 85 percent in 2005 from the Paris 2012 bid.
According to the IOC numbers, 23 percent of Parisians are against a 2024 bid.
The corresponding numbers for Los Angeles, according to the IOC poll: 78 percent for and eight percent against.
Ouest-France says the poll results have thrown "a cold shower" on the Paris 2024 bid and believes it will provide fuel for those who are against the French capital hosting the Olympics.
Sylvain Labbe of sports.fr echoed those worries.
Though Los Angeles does have the superior support in the IOC poll, David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times says the IOC numbers are less than a local poll being used by LA 2024.
Alan Abrahamson of Three Wire Sports says the IOC poll is just one of the issues for Paris.
The leaders of the two bids are also being featured ahead of next week’s Extraordinary Session in Lausanne.
Rachel Axon of USA Today profiled LA 2024 bid leader Casey Wasserman while Le Parisien did a feature on Paris 2024 co-chair Tony Estanguet.
Written by Gerard Farek
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